South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs has extended the deadline for visa and permit holders whose documents expired in March because of delays in processing applications.
The new deadline is 30 September, giving temporary relief to thousands of foreign nationals, including Zimbabweans, waiting for their immigration status to be finalized.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced the extension on Tuesday through Immigration Directive Number 4 of 2025.
This directive allows a temporary solution for foreign nationals affected by delays in processing visa appeals and manual applications.
The extension is especially important for holders of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), as many Zimbabweans are uncertain about their legal status in South Africa.
Schreiber acknowledged that despite efforts to fix the backlog, many visa applications remain unprocessed due to administrative delays. Said Schreiber:
The Department of Home Affairs has, since issuing Immigration Directive No. 16 of 2024, dated 18 December 2024, been working to clear the backlog in its visa and permitting regime.
However, many applications will not be ready for collection before the deadline of 31st March 2025, as stipulated in the previous concession, primarily due to delays in the printing process.
Furthermore, the processing of the resultant appeals, as well as some manual category applications, will not be completed by the expiry of the current concession and is now the department’s primary focus.
The extension will give the Department of Home Affairs more time to process applications and allow applicants to collect their results and submit applications for the right visas.
Schreiber added that applicants who want to cancel their waiver applications and leave South Africa before 30th September will not be considered undesirable under immigration laws.
Visa holders waiting for their waiver application results can travel in and out of South Africa without being considered undesirable until 30th September 2025.
However, non-visa-exempt applicants with pending waiver applications must apply for a port of entry visa before returning to South Africa.
The minister also clarified that the extension applies to long-term visa applicants, but they must still follow the conditions of their visas. He said:
The extension also applies to visa holders who have applied for long-term visas, as outlined in Section 11(1)(b) of the Immigration Act, up to and including Sections 20 and 22 of the Act, and whose visa application is still pending as of the date of this directive.
Schreiber clarified that the temporary concession does not apply to those waiting for permanent residence approval. These applicants must keep their stay legally valid while awaiting approval.
The measures apply only to foreign nationals who are legally in South Africa and have submitted applications through VFS Global, with a verifiable receipt from the VFS tracking system.
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